Dust to dust
by thegreatshipper
Summary: 'When we dream with someone, one way or another, we can be related with that person in real life. They are images that are in our minds, in our consciousness. But somehow we cannot recall.' Set after 3x11. Rated 'k' for now.
1. Made of dreams

**Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon a Time characters, or any other parts that are similar to the ones in the show.**

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It's been said that we can never remember how a dream starts. That when we dream with someone, one way or another, we can be related with that person in real life. They are images that are in our minds, in our consciousness. But somehow we cannot recall. And even if we think we're dreaming with someone we don't know, we're actually dreaming with someone we saw a long time ago, and now we don't remember.

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_The breeze was warm that summer afternoon at the lake in the enchanted forest. Henry was trying to do little toads with the rocks, while Emma and Regina were resting under a large tree. The beautiful brunette leaned her back against the trunk, letting the blue-eyed blonde lay down her head on the lap of her true love. The two kept their eyes fixed on their son, who was just a few feet away from them._

'_Do you think he's happy?' _

'_Oh, I think so I mean, he's got the best mother in the world.'_

'_You never stop being self-centered don't you, Emma?'_

'_Actually, I was __talking about you.__' __Regina__smiled slightly__. '__You know Regina__, I think he __couldn't have__had a better__mother.__I mean,__he could have ended in a place where no one would give him affection, or someone would mistreat him... or even worse.' The brunette__frowned,__terrified__by the idea that__Emma__had in mind__. 'What I mean is that you raised him all this time that I wasn't here, and he grew up being a very good kid. It doesn't matter what had happened; now we're fine, we're peaceful. He's with us, and…' The blonde made a pause as she rose from her comfortable position just to fit again beside her woman. __She gently__took__her chin__and looked__into her eyes. 'And I can finally be with the woman I love.' They stared at each other's for a few seconds. Their eyes could speak without words, that was love. Emma moved slowly towards the mouth of the brunette and everything seemed perfect._

_Suddenly a big thunder was heard near them, a__nd a dense__and huge__black cloud__began to__appear__quickly. __Everything around Emma seemed to fade. Regina and Henry were motionless, staring blankly, and as much as she tried to get them out of that state, she couldn't. The wind roared furiously, the bright-eyed woman broke into tears as she hugged her beloved brunette. The rest, no longer existed._

'_Regina, please.' __A tear__fell to the ground__and the woman__ went __back to normal,__but still fading. She gently__placed her hands on__the blonde__'s face and in a sad smile said: _

'_You have to remember.'_

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'Regina!' Emma woke up exalted. 'Who the hell is Regina?' She said to herself as she sat on the edge of the bed. She looked at the clock, only ten minutes left until the alarm sounds. She ran her hair to one side. 'What kind of nightmare was that?' She had no idea who the woman on her dreams was, or why she had dreamed of her in that way so, strange. But for some reason she was filled with _anguish._

'Regina, Regina, Regina. What the hell?' She whispered.

The blonde used to keep a small notebook in her drawer, which grabbed whenever she had a dream that attracted a lot of attention. She took her pencil and described what had gone through her mind while she was sleeping, as detailed as possible. Lately that had become a kind of a routine; she'd been having nightmares for a month. At some point they could be useful, all those notes. Or at least that was what she thought.

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Emma used to make breakfast for Henry every day, and without even having to call him, he would wake up with the simple scent of the apple pancakes she cooked for him. That morning wouldn't be exceptions. It was one of his favorite things; waking up to the sound of New York was a bit annoying, but knowing that his mother had everything ready just for him, made him very happy. Never mind that there were only the two of them, everything was fine as it was.

'That smells good.' Henry was still trying to adjust his eyes to the light of the day.

'Hey kid!' Bringing his cup of hot cocoa and pancakes. 'How did you sleep last night? It was a little frosty.' She took a sip of her own chocolate.

'Not very well, I had a bad night. It's very strange; it's been a long since the last time I had a nightmare'

'I know, tell me about it.'

'Did you have nightmares too?'

'And not just any nightmare.' Henry looked at her strangely. 'But what was your dream about?'

'I don't remember that much now, but I think that I was locked in a dark room and there was fire everywhere.' Emma raised her eyebrows in astonishment. 'There was also a woman, which I don't know, the other side of the room. The flames were separating us and I tried to save her but I couldn't. And then I woke up. '

The blonde frowned. 'You know, they say that on cold nights it is easier to have a nightmare.' She thought for a moment. 'Wait, what was that woman like? '

'Brunette, short hair, I can't remember more. Oh! And she had a scar on the right side of her lips.' Emma's face froze when she heard how the little boy perfectly described the same woman she's been dreaming with. 'Why?' The blonde was lost in her thoughts. 'Mom, what happens?'

'Huh?' Emma went back to reality.

'Why did you ask?'

'Oh it's just... this is gonna sound weird.' She seemed a little nervous. 'I don't even know if you'll believe me, or...'

'Mom!' The boy interrupted. 'Just tell me.'

'I've been having these weird, really weird dreams, and sometimes the same woman appears in them.'

'Do you think it means something?'

'I don't know, it could be.' Henry frowned. 'Or maybe, it's just a big coincidence. Maybe it's someone we met a long time ago in one of my cases. Someone we saw on the street? Ugh, I don't know. 'She couldn't sound more confused. 'Never mind, go get your stuff or you'll be late.' Emma smiled at his son and he went quickly to do what he was told.

Henry's school was not far from his apartment, and Emma loved to carry him to the door of that big building. He was still like a child to her eyes, even though he was thirteen, and going through puberty.

Despite of having the instincts of a tiger mother, the blonde didn't notice there was someone following their steps very closely.

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**Author's note: Ok, I've never been to NY and I don't know it either, BUT let's just say Henry's school is just a few blocks from the apartment, even tho that could not be possible, or maybe yes, who knows? (I don't, lol). Please review because it's my first fic and you'll help me a lot! And if there's any mistake that you can find (because English is not my first language) I would love if you let me know :D**

**Take care! And thanks for reading! **


	2. Apple pie

Emma's face was filled with uncertainty when she heard someone knocking at her door. 'Who could it be?' She said to herself. Henry was at school so it couldn't' be him, besides, he also has keys of the apartment. The possibility that it was someone from work was easily discarded since she had no appointment for that day.

Across the door a woman with her fist raised was standing brightly, she was probably about to knock again. 'Hello!' She gave her a big smile, the greatest of all. A smile that could light up any gray day, and even heal a broken heart.

'Um, hi. How I can help you?' The blonde sounded a bit confused. The other woman was quite familiar but she couldn't know why.

'Oh, I'm new in the building, I live in the apartment next door.' Emma smiled, but you could still see in her eyes how disoriented she was. 'I brought an apple pie, I made it myself.'

'Great! But, aren't I supposed to give you something as a welcome gift?'

'Yeah, well... it's just...' The woman's voice began to get nervous. '...I usually do things, a little bit different.' She smiled as she could and handed the tray that was containing the dessert.

'Ah, it smells good!'

'Thank you.' The brunette smiled with her eyes. A small, but awkward silence invaded the air between them for a moment. 'Well, I gotta go, I have... things to do.' She was turning to go back to her apartment but Emma quickly stopped her.

'Wait! You didn't say your name.'

The strange woman turned and shook her hand, Emma corresponded that gesture. 'Nice to meet you, I'm Regina.' At that very moment a great movie of all past events returned to the blonde's present. She remembered, she finally remembered.

'Regina!'

'Yes, that's my name.' The brunette smirked.

'No! I… I remember everything, everything that happened. I remember!'

Regina looked very shocked. 'That's weird; you didn't even have to try the cake.'

What?!' It could say Emma was a little angry by the tone of her voice in that short word. Since all her memories were back in her head, she also remembered that time Regina tried to poison her. 'What was in the pie?!'

'Nothing! Only a potion to bring your memories back. Don't worry; I'm not trying to kill you... again.' She invited herself to get in the apartment while giving a look to the decoration. 'So, this is the New York style.' She said in a scathing way. Emma closed the door and followed her around the lobby of the place.

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Regina made herself comfortable in the armchair. Emma, on the other hand was still standing in front of her arms crossed, wanting to be alert all the time. In defense mode, just in case. 'Okay, why are you here?'

'You tell me.' The brunette said quietly.

"Regina, I'm in no mood for games.'

'It's not a game Emma, you called me.'

'Wait, what?' She was surprised by the response of the other woman.

"As you heard, you called me in your dreams.' The blonde had to have a sit to listen carefully to what Regina had to say, she knew it would be too much information to swallow unexpectedly. 'Which I thought impossible because without memories, you can't know you have powers. Right?' The blonde nodded. 'Apparently, your magic is powerful enough to run alone in extreme cases, even knowing that you are not giving it the signal to do so. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?'

'Yes, but why?'

'I don't know, I guess it's because you are the result of true love... or something.' She rolled her eyes in the moment she realized how cheesy that sounded. 'So your powers are much stronger and they know when you need help. Now tell me, what happens?. Is Henry okay?' She asked wistfully.

'Yes, Henry is fine, everything's... fine. I don't understand why I called you, but... wait...' Nerves began to seize her voice. "What... um... what kind of dreams?'

"Well, It was the same dream for a whole month. We were talking about Henry under a tree, while he played with the rocks in the lake and suddenly there was a gray cloud that was destroying everything that stood in the way. Then you and Henry were paralyzed and...' She took a little time to breathe and swallow, since she was trying to explain everything as quickly as possible. 'And fading, but before you completely disappear you asked me for help, and then the dream just ended there.'

'Oh God.' Emma was stunned. The other woman was having the same dream, exactly the same dream as her. But she wouldn't dare to tell her that, at least not for now. 'Wait, how did you get here? Weren't you supposed to return to the enchanted forest?' As much as she tried to understand, things seemed to be increasingly blurred.

'Well, as it seemed that something was wrong I had to resort to another curse. That's why it took me so long to come here to see you.'

'But, what did this curse do now?' She was clearly worried.

'I thought there was no way to travel back to a land without magic. Even Rumple thought the same, when he was alive. But Belle read that somewhere there was buried one of the greatest treasures, and that among this treasure was a unique copy of the book of curses.' Emma was fascinated to realize all that Regina was able to do to go back to the real world to help her, and her son, of course. 'The only downside of this curse is that once cast, we could never come back to our lands again. So we had to check with all the peasants, I mean citizens.' Despite everything, she was still being the same old queen. 'I have to say it was not very difficult to convince them with Snow and Charming by my side. Although many stayed to go back to their lives, others could not live without our loved ones. In my case, Henry.' There was no need to justify, but she did it anyway.

'I think someone will have to eat the pie after all. Henry has to remember. Even if it means that nothing will be the same for us anymore.' The blonde made a pause. 'Thank you.' A small and shy smile was drawn on Emma's lips.

'You don't need to thank me, it was you who called me.' The brunette seemed a little indifferent.

'It's not just that.' Regina frowned and wrinkled her lips. 'I never thanked you for giving me your memories, this new life. Despite the fact that it wasn't quite real, thanks to you I could be the mother I never was for Henry. And even though I now remember everything and know the truth, it was a very good gift. A very nice thing from you. You gave me the days off that I needed. You know, for the problems that always hunted us.'

'The only person who made me feel happy again, was Henry. So everything I do, I do it for him. He is my person.' Regina couldn't help but kindly smile at Emma.

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**Thanks for reading, please review! :)**


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